In providing instruction to tennis players for improving a player's skills, it is emphasized that not only should the hand holding the racquet move to a position prepatory for stroking the ball but that the user's other hand move in the same direction thus causing a user's body to turn appropriately. This properly aligns the shoulders and increasing the effectiveness of the stroke, improving ball velocity and placement while minimizing injury. Conversely, many players, particularly novice players, move only the hand holding the racquet allowing the other hand to remain idly by and giving little or no consideration to body positioning in preparing for the return of an oncoming tennis ball. In doing so, ball velocity, accuracy, consistency and pace are reduced and, perhaps more importantly, ball direction on the return stroke can be haphazard and unpredictable.
The present invention is not the first teaching of an aid to improve tennis skills by coordinating wrist movement of a user. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,833 teaches a device for joining a player's wrists together so as to engender movement of both arms and shoulders together in executing a tennis stroke. This patent further suggests extending, from a wristband and onto a user's middle finger a loop to prevent or reduce palmar flexion.
Although the invention described and claimed in the '833 patent is of interest in recognizing the benefits of joining a player's wrists together in executing a tennis stroke, it has been found that the components suggested for implementing this function are inadequate and do not, in the final analysis, provide the intended function. Specifically, the '833 patent suggests employing straps for joining first and second wristbands together. The buckled straps of the prior art can be changed in length through the use of buckles but once fixed, the straps represent nothing more than rigid extenders providing no tension between a user's wrists when the straps have not been pulled to their full extended length and, of equal importance, do not enable the wrists of a user to extend beyond the fixed strap length.
The straps suggested in carrying out the invention disclosed in the '833 patent are deficient for a number of reasons Firstly, unless the straps are pulled to their full fixed length, neither wrist of the user is encouraged to move in the direction of the other. As such, when the dominant or racquet hand of a user moves, there is nothing to encourage the subservient hand to move in the same direction unless in moving the dominant hand, full strap length is established between wrists causing the subservient hand to be yanked or abruptly pulled in the direction of the racqueted hand. This is hardly a way to encourage unison wrist movement. Secondly, there are times in which the distance between the wrists of a user are to be greater than the intended spacing between wrists during tennis strokes. For example, if the training device is to be employed for all purposes both during training and in participating in an actual match, ball service, requiring an overhead stroke would undoubtedly require wrist spacing far greater than if a forehand or backhand was to be conducted using this training aid under normal circumstances. The fixed strap of the '833 patent would prevent overhead or service strokes if the strap was to be fixed at a normal spacing for forehand and backhand play.
The present application is highly related to U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,140 belonging to Applicant. In that application, a training device was taught comprising wristbands for encircling each wrist of a user, a tension device and an umbilical attached thereto and to the wristbands, the umbilical being under constant tension during use of the training device to encourage movement of a users hand in unison in carrying out a tennis stroke Although this device has great practicality, in employing two wristbands which are unrelated to the tennis racquet it was found that misplacing the wristbands was of a common occurrence and that the invention could be made more practical if the umbilical under constant tension was attached to the subservient hand at its wrist employing a wristband similar to that taught in '140 patent but that instead attaching the umbilical to the dominant wrist of a user, it is instead attached to the racquet itself. Ideally, the device could be embedded within the racquet during manufacture resulting in a practical training tool readily available to a user without having to attach separate stand alone devices to a users wrist in order to accomplish the goals presented herein.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a teaching aid for improving tennis skills which is devoid of the limitations of the prior art.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a tennis aid tensioning and thus encouraging unison of movement between the wrists of a player to improve tennis skills
These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.